RTÉ Hosts ‘Bring on the Women’ a Media Training Day for Female Professionals

Image Name: RTE Bring on Women 4Description: No Repro Fee.
Moya Doherty (left) with Caroline Erskine, Aine Lawlor, Ursula Halligan and Clare Duignan (right), pictured in the grounds of RTE at the Media training day "Bring on Women". RTÃ held Irelandâs first-ever industry-hosted training and networking day for female area experts willing to become more active in broadcast representation. Pic. Robbie Reynolds

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Mary Harney (left) with Caroline Erskine, Aine Lawlor, Ursula Halligan and Clare Duignan (right), pictured in the grounds of RTE at the Media training day "Bring on Women". RTÃ held Irelandâs first-ever industry-hosted training and networking day for female area experts willing to become more active in broadcast representation. Pic. Robbie Reynolds

Image Name: RTE Bring on Women 2Description: No Repro Fee.
Moya Doherty (left) with Caroline Erskine, Aine Lawlor, Ursula Halligan and Clare Duignan (right), pictured in the grounds of RTE at the Media training day "Bring on Women". RTÃ held Irelandâs first-ever industry-hosted training and networking day for female area experts willing to become more active in broadcast representation. Pic. Robbie Reynolds

Image Name: RTE Bring on Women 1Description: No Repro Fee.
Moya Doherty (left) with Caroline Erskine, Aine Lawlor, Ursula Halligan and Margaret Ward (right), pictured in the grounds of RTE at the Media training day "Bring on Women". RTÃ held Irelandâs first-ever industry-hosted training and networking day for female area experts willing to become more active in broadcast representation. Pic. Robbie Reynolds

Wednesday 22nd May, 11.08am

Last modified: Wednesday 22nd May, 11.37am

Today (Wednesday 22nd May) RTÉ held Ireland’s first-ever industry-hosted training and networking day for female area experts willing to become more active in broadcast representation.

‘Bring on the Women’, a freeone-day training programme, was organised by RTÉ and conducted on-site in conjunction with Women on Air. RTÉ’s involvement in the training day was the initiative of Clare Duignan, outgoing Managing Director, RTÉ Radio.

Speaking about the event, Clare Duignan said: “Diversity of voice and perspective and fair representation are important issues for Irish media as a whole. For a number of reasons, women are less represented on Irish airwaves than they should be and among those reasons are lack of confidence and media experience. Bring on the Women is indicative of RTÉ’s commitment to contributing to addressing this important issue. Through this training day we are pooling our collective energy to further develop some of Ireland’s most capable female experts, enabling them to confidently step forward and to contribute to the conversations that matter most to the people of Ireland.”

The programme was facilitated and chaired by a diverse range of successful female professionals with broadcast and media experience. Those lending their time and expertise include: RTÉ broadcaster Áine Lawlor, former Tánaiste Mary Harney, TV3 broadcaster Ursula Halligan, Women on Air founder and CEO of Clear Ink Margaret Ward, RTÉ Head of External Relations Mairéad Ni Nuadháin, RTÉ broadcaster Claire Byrne and Riverdance producer Moya Doherty. A range of female professionals from the fields of economics, engineering, science, technology and the arts availed of the training.

Speaking about Bring on the Women, Caroline Erskine, Chair of Women on Air said: “Women On Air salutes RTÉ for taking this practical and significant step towards addressing the gender imbalance on the airwaves. It is the first broadcaster to introduce a training day for women experts as a way of encouraging the development of new, authoritative voices on news and current affairs programmes. Women on Air is delighted to partner with RTÉ and introduce it, and the wider broadcasting community, to The List of over a thousand women who are experts in their fields.”

Twitter: #rte #womenonair

Photos have been issued separately to photodesks by Robbie Reynolds Photography – (086 3836212) and are also available on the RTE presspack at presspack.rte.ie

Bring on the Women is a full-day training programme. The day comprises two panel discussions; ‘Media and Message – Inspiring Talk on the Importance of Women in the Media’ and ‘A Confident Message – How to Prepare for Interview’. There are also three hands-on workshops; ‘You are the Messenger – How to Communicate your Message to Disparate Audiences in an Accessible Way’, ‘The Business of Business – What Production Teams Look For – An Experiential Workshop’ and finally ‘Sound and Camera – A Practical Application in a Studio Setting.

Clare Duignan took over as Managing Director of RTÉ Radio in February 2009, with responsibility for RTÉ’s four FM stations and six digital services. Since her appointment, she has overseen the re-positioning of 2fm, the consolidation of the Radio 1 schedule, and the introduction of a strategic communications, marketing and branding initiatives across all stations.

Previously a director of the Arts Council, the EBU Radio Committee, a member of IADT Governing Body and of the National Theatre Advisory Board, she is currently a board member of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and of Business to Arts, and is also a member of the National Film School Advisory Board. She is a regular contributor to industry and public debate on Irish media, broadcasting, audio-visual policy, the arts and gender equality issues.

Women on Air is a voluntary, not-for-profit networking group that helps give women experts the skills and confidence to go on radio and television. The list of over a thousand women experts can be accessed by broadcasting organisations at womenonair.ie @WomenOnAirIE

Caroline Erskine is chair of Women on Air, a broadcast journalist and communications consultant. She most recently worked on the Communications team for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Her career began as an RTE television and radio journalist. She was political correspondent for Ireland’s first national independent radio station, Century Radio. She went on to devise, present and produce her own current affairs series ‘Headliners’ on RTE television and later co-presented ‘The Week in Politics’ for the same station. Since then she has worked as Communications Director for the all-party National Forum on Europe and for the Ireland for Europe campaign in the second Lisbon referendum campaign. In 2011 she was executive director of We the Citizens, a project funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies which tested the value of deliberative democracy in the Iriish context.

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